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Christy Raj, now a 20 something boy, was made to leave school in Class 9, because as a girl then, she was not seen as ‘normal.’ The family, too, was not supportive and tried to forcefully marry ‘her’ off in the belief that marriage would ‘set things right.’ She then left her family and joined an advocacy group for transgenders in Karnataka.
“I have had a sex reconstruction surgery, and need another one now. Each surgery costs about ₹ 50,000, and until the surgery is complete, I will not get a gender certificate. This means I have to do without a voter ID card, ration card or passport,” said Christy.
Pushing for action Christy was in New Delhi with transgenders and other gender minority organisations, such as V-CAN Network from Tamil Nadu, Sangama of Bengaluru and the Karnataka Sexual Minority Forum to urge parliamentarians to support and ensure speedy passage of the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill 2014 in the Monsoon session, which is slated to begin on July 21.
Encouraged by the Supreme Court’s judgement in April 2014 recognising transgenders as the third gender, the community plans to meet officials in the Social Justice Ministry to push for a national-level welfare board for transgenders.
They also want State governments to provide reservations in education and employment for them, as per the apex court’s directive, among other things.
“Even though the Private Members Bill was very encouraging and got widespread support from MPs, we want the government to set aside some budgetary allocation for us, as also a set up a welfare board for transgenders at the national level,” said Rajesh Umadevi, Director, Sangama.
In a rare action during the Budget session in April this year, the Rajya Sabha had passed a private member’s Bill to protect and provide rights for transgenders. The Bill was moved by DMK’s Tiruchi Siva.
Baby steps “Education is key to mainstreaming transgenders,” said Jeeva, a founder member of V-CAN, urging the government to also consider scholarships for them to become part of institutions.
The community, while appreciative of the efforts being made by States such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as also recent measures taken by West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala and Chhattisgarh, wanted all States to implement the Supreme Court’s directive in ‘letter and spirit.’
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